Tuesday, February 24, 2026 — Native Bookshelf: “Blood Relay” by Devon Mihesuah

Choctaw homicide detective Perry Antelope works on a missing persons case alongside the Choctaw Lighthorsemen tribal police in Devon Mihesuah’s (Choctaw) new mystery novel, "Blood Relay". The story of the disappearance of a young athlete is set against the backdrop of the competitive bareback horse relay racing. The fictional fast-paced thriller also takes on the real-life issue of missing and murdered Indigenous relatives and the evolving jurisdictional complexities between federal, state, and tribal law enforcement in Oklahoma. Mihesuah, a historian and the Cora Lee Beers Price Teaching Professor at the University of Kansas, continues her tradition of creating strong leading women. She’s the author of the detective Monique Blue Hawk series ("Document of Expectations", "Dance of the Returned" and "The Hatak Witches") and the 2024 collection of horror stories, "The Bone Picker". She authored several non-fiction titles including "Recovering Our Ancestors' Gardens: Indigenous Recipes and Guide to Diet and Fitness". We add Mihesuah’s Blood Relay to our Native Bookshelf.